The Rajasthan Royals will look to take a big step towards qualifying for the semifinals of the Champions League T20 when they take on the Highveld Lions.
The Royals are sitting pretty at the top of the table in their group after their opponents', including the Lions, first matches were washed out due to rain. The Mumbai Indians are in a precarious position, with only two points in two matches, after losing their first game to the Royals and then seeing their second one abandoned.
Rajasthan Royals are at their best at home, and with the match against the Lions again scheduled to take place in the comfortable confines of the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, the IPL team will be the overwhelming favourites.
"We won the first game and momentum is with us now," Royals opener Ajinkya Rahane said. "Anything can happen in Twenty20s, so we don't want to think about other teams getting only two points (off abandoned games). We just want to continue with our strategy and what we did against the Mumbai Indians."
What the Royals did against the Mumbai Indians was play as a team with pretty much every player that was called in contributing in some form or the other. Something that will especially please Rahul Dravid and coach Paddy Upton will be the form shown by the batsmen in the first match, with Sanju Samson showing his immense talent and Shane Watson looking good in the middle.
Rahane is not taking a win against the Lions for granted, though, and is aware of the potent bowling attack that the South African side possess.
"Lions have a decent team and good, experienced bowlers," he said. "Sohail Tanvir is there, and they have Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Imran Tahir, Aaron Phangiso -- they have a good team.
"As for us, we are not depending on any individual bowler or batsman, we want to play as a team the way we did against Mumbai Indians, where everyone contributed towards winning. Vikramjeet Malik bowled well, but the others supported him well -- that is also very crucial.
When it comes to cricket partnerships are crucial, even in T20s, and Rahane is banking on another couple of decent ones against the Lions after some good alliances saw them home against the Mumbai Indians.
"In the last match, it was raining initially and some moisture was there, so it was hard to play shots. But when you were timing the ball, it was easier, and that's what we decided to do. And it worked well for Sanju Samson and me. The partnerships between us and then with Watto and Stuart Binny were both very crucial."
Where to watch
The match is scheduled for an 8 p.m. (IST) start with it set for a live telecast on Star Sports, Star Cricket (Hindi) and Star Cricket HD. You can also catch the action online by clicking the official link HERE.
Squads: Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Ashok Menaria, Dishant Yagnik, Vikramjeet Malik, Rahul Shukla, Praveen Tambe, Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Brad Hodge, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Shaun Tait.
Highveld Lions: Temba Bavuma, Gulam Bodi, Quinton De Kock, Neil McKenzie, Lonwabo Tsotsobe; Ethan O'Reilly, Hardus Viljoen, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Alviro Petersen, Aaron Phangiso, Dwaine Pretorius, Jean Symes, Imran Tahir, Sohail Tanvir, Thami Tsolekile.
Prediction: Royals are extremely difficult to beat at home, and the IPL side pull off another win.
